Georgia man jailed on charges related to artifacts

A Georgia man accused of selling illegally recovered artifacts in Ocala in December 2011 was booked Thursday into the Marion County Jail.

By Austin L. MillerStaff writer

A Georgia man accused of selling illegally recovered artifacts in Ocala in December 2011 was booked Thursday into the Marion County Jail.

Jacky Fuller, 54, was one of 13 people arrested by state officials late last month, including Paul Hilton, 51, of Silver Springs, for allegedly illegally recovering and selling prehistoric artifacts.

Fuller arrived at the jail at 4:35 a.m., where he was booked on local charges of unlawful sale of archaeological resources and dealing in stolen property. His bond was set at $7,500.

An arrest affidavit, signed by Judge S. Edwards-Stephens on Feb. 18, states that on Dec. 8, 2011, a state official who was working undercover talked with Fuller on the telephone about some artifacts from the St. Johns River he had purchased from Fuller on Dec. 2. During the conversation, the state official expressed interest in other artifacts Fuller might recover the next time he went diving in the St. Johns River.

Fuller told the official he already had two more boxes of items from the same site and would contact him the next time he was in Florida and show him the goods, according to a report.

The two met in Ocala on Dec. 21, 2011, and Fuller brought the boxes with him. Some of the items shown to the undercover official were an assortment of stone gouges and stone flake knives. It was determined that some of the items had been out of the river for about five or six years.

According to the report, Fuller also had other artifacts he said he bought from someone else. All of those pieces came from the Lake George area.

The undercover agent purchased nine stone river artifacts from Fuller for $200. The items were submitted to an archaeologist for an independent review, which revealed they were authentic “lithic core and grinding tools.”

An Associated Press report that was published in the Star-Banner in late February stated that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission described a nearly $2 million black market in illegal historical artifacts. Items shown at a news conference in Tallahassee included dozens of arrowheads and pot shards. Maj. Curtis Brown said those arrested were the “main dealers and looters.”

Hilton was charged with four felony counts.

It was not clear if there was any connection between Hilton and Fuller.

Fuller’s wife answered the phone at their home in Georgia on Friday afternoon but said she could not talk as authorities had a search warrant and had been looking through her residence since 9 a.m.